Beijing en­vi­sions the so-called Track 1.5 dis­cus­sions be­ing at­ten­ded by the seni­or nuc­le­ar ne­go­ti­at­ors from China, Ja­pan, the two Koreas and Rus­sia. The talks have been pro­posed for Sept. 18.

Wash­ing­ton, Tokyo and Seoul re­portedly are not en­thu­si­ast­ic about the talks pro­pos­al, giv­en a lack of sig­nals from the North that it in­tends to de­nuc­lear­ize.

“It is un­cer­tain wheth­er South Korea, the U.S. and Ja­pan would send their chief nuc­le­ar en­voys to the pro­posed meet­ing in Beijing,” the dip­lo­mat­ic in­sider told Yon­hap.

The last round of form­al six-na­tion ne­go­ti­ations was held in Decem­ber 2008. The ne­go­ti­at­ing format is fo­cused on achiev­ing the gradu­al shut­down of North Korea’s nuc­le­ar weapons-re­lated work, which would be re­war­ded with timed in­fu­sions of eco­nom­ic sup­port for and in­ter­na­tion­al se­cur­ity agree­ments with the na­tion.

The two Koreas also are slated on Fri­day to re­con­nect a two-way armed forces com­mu­nic­a­tion line that has been severed since March, Yon­hap sep­ar­ately re­por­ted.

Seoul in re­cent ne­go­ti­ations with Py­ongy­ang de­man­ded that the mil­it­ary hot­line be re­con­nec­ted. Those talks fo­cused on re­sum­ing stalled joint eco­nom­ic activ­it­ies at an in­dus­tri­al zone in­side North Korea.

On Thursday, U.S. Pres­id­ent Obama and Ja­pan­ese Prime Min­is­ter Shinzo Abe held a brief meet­ing in St. Peters­burg, Rus­sia, on the side­lines of the G-20 sum­mit. The two lead­ers were ex­pec­ted to dis­cuss the North’s nuc­le­ar work among oth­er shared se­cur­ity con­cerns, ac­cord­ing to a White House re­lease.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are threatening to block the spending bill—and prevent the Senate from leaving town—"because it would not extend benefits for retired coal miners for a year or pay for their pension plans. The current version of the bill would extend health benefits for four months. ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday afternoon moved to end debate on the continuing resolution to fund the government through April 28. But unless Senate Democrats relent, that vote cannot be held until Saturday at 1 a.m. at the earliest, one hour after the current funding measure expires."

Source:

PARLIAMENT VOTED 234-56

South Korean President Impeached

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

The South Korean parliament voted on Friday morning to impeach President Park Geun-hye over charges of corruption, claiming she allowed undue influence to a close confidante of hers. Ms. Park is now suspended as president for 180 days. South Korea's Constitutional Court will hear the case and decide whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment.

Source:

CLOSED FOR INAUGURAL ACTIVITIES

NPS: Women’s March Can’t Use Lincoln Memorial

1 hours ago

THE DETAILS

Participants in the women's march on Washington the day after inauguration won't have access to the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service has "filed documents securing large swaths of the national mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities. None of these spots will be open for protesters."

Source:

2.1 PERCENT IN 2017

President Obama Boosts Civilian Federal Pay

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

President Obama on Thursday announced a pay raise for civilian federal employees of 2.1 percent come January 2017. He had said multiple times this year that salaries would go up 1.6 percent, so the Thursday announcement came as a surprise. The change was likely made to match the 2.1 percent increase in salary that members of the military will receive.

Source:

SHUTDOWN LOOMING

House Approves Spending Bill

20 hours ago

BREAKING

The House has completed it's business for 2016 by passing a spending bill which will keep the government funded through April 28. The final vote tally was 326-96. The bill's standing in the Senate is a bit tenuous at the moment, as a trio of Democratic Senators have pledged to block the bill unless coal miners get a permanent extension on retirement and health benefits. The government runs out of money on Friday night.